HMM Leads Environmental Protection by Recycling Waste Ropes

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] HMM is the first domestic shipping company to recycle waste ropes generated on ships.

On the 21st, HMM announced that it signed a business agreement for a waste rope resource circulation project with 'Poresys,' a company specializing in marine waste management.

When a shipping company's vessel is docked at a port, it uses thick ropes called mooring lines. Typically, about 20 ropes are used to secure the ship firmly. Since it is directly related to the safety of the ship and crew, these ropes are replaced every 5 to 7 years. HMM generates about 20 tons of waste mooring lines annually. Until now, these have been disposed of by landfill or incineration.

At the 'Waste Rope Resource Circulation Project' business agreement ceremony held at the Yeouido headquarters on the 20th, Lee Kwang-ho, Head of External Cooperation at HMM (right), and Won Jong-hwa, CEO of Forcis, are taking a commemorative photo after signing. Photo by HMM

Through this agreement, HMM and Poresys have established a circular system that removes and processes salt and foreign substances on the surface of waste mooring lines using eco-friendly technology, then produces recycled nylon raw materials. By weight, about 80-90% of the waste mooring lines are recycled.

The raw materials produced in pellet or yarn form can be used to manufacture nylon-based products such as clothing, accessories, and household goods. This is the first case of recycling waste mooring lines among domestic shipping companies. It is also rare to find such cases among global shipping companies.

In addition to waste mooring lines, HMM has been recycling waste PET bottles generated on ships as resources since last year. The company is actively participating in the 'Incheon Port Circular Economy Project,' which collects waste PET bottles from ships and recycles them into clothing.

An HMM official stated, “As eco-friendliness and carbon neutrality are emerging as key issues in the shipping industry, we plan to continuously expand social contribution activities related to marine environmental protection as well as ships.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.